Ratings: Cleiton, Borja, Nandha put up five-star show for East Bengal

Cleiton Silva and Nandhakumar Sekar scored brace.

Nobody ever imagined this scoreline! East Bengal demolished NorthEast United 5-0 in the ISL 2023-24 encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium. Borja Herrera opened the scoring for the Red & Gold Brigade, and just after 10 minutes Cleiton Silva netted the second. In the second half, Nandhakumar Sekar added the third and Cleiton got his second before the former again slotted the ball home for East Bengal’s fifth.

Here are the player ratings for the game.

East Bengal (By Sattyik Sarkar)

Prabhsukhan Gill – 7

Was troubled very less apart from a couple of situations. Otherwise he made regulation collections.

Harmanjot Khabra – 6.5

Khabra made two important tackles during his short stay. He was stretchered off the pitch and was seen walking with the help of crutches later.

Lalchungnunga – 7

Orchestrated the ball well. Was beaten once by Ibson Melo in the first half which could have led to a goal but Souvik Chakrabarti was there to avert danger.

Hijazi Maher – 7.5

Was cool and composed on the pitch and partnered well with Lalchungnunga. He made a misheader in the fifth minute of the game which could have caused danger but Nestor Albiach wasted the chance.

Mandar Rao Dessai – 8

Made a crucial interception of a through ball in the 11th minute. Provided an excellent cross in the 24th minute to assist Cleiton Silva for East Bengal’s second goal.

Souvik Chakrabarti – 7.5

Livewire! It was nearly impossible to go past Souvik throughout the game. He was everywhere in midfield wherever NorthEast United players had the ball.

Saul Crespo – 7.5

Saul showed immense determination during the game. Showed a masterclass in snatching balls from NorthEast United players.

Borja Herrera – 8

Borja opened the scoring in the 14th minute with a stunner. Dictated the game throughout his stay. As he just returned from injury, he was taken off in the 60th minute.

PV Vishnu – 7.5

Should have been giving more playing time. Was substituted at half time. He made top-class runs during his stay. In the 45th minute, missed a 1v1 against the NorthEast goalkeeper.

Cleiton Silva – 8.5

Scored his side’s second and fourth goal. His workload was top-notch in this clash!

Naorem Mahesh Singh – 7.5

Received a yellow card in the 44th minute. Provided assist for Nandhakumar Sekar’s second goal.

Substitutes

Mohammad Rakip – 7

Rakip came on replacing an injured Khabra. Seemed unnecessarily nervous at times but a decent shift overall. Received a yellow card towards the end of the game.

Nandhakumar Sekar – 8

Scored two goals and was a potent threat for NorthEast United during his stay.

Jose Pardo – 6.5

Pardo was seen very less with the ball.

Javier Siverio – N/A

Mobashir Rahman – N/A

Tried a header after coming on but it was neither timed or placed well.

NorthEast United FC (by Rutvij Joshi)

Mirshad Michu 6.5 :

Mirshad did well coming out of the line and thwarting the attacks. However, he had no chance to stop five goals

Dinesh Singh 4 :

Mandar and Vishnu combined well to target the left flank in which they were quite successful. Later on Nandha exploited the poor positioning and scored the third and fifth one for the home side and assisted the fourth.

Michel Zobaco 5 :

Michel Zobaco, like his defensive compatriot, had very little to offer. He thwarted some of the counter attacks but it was only one way traffic.

Asheer Akhtar 4 :

Asheer Akhtar had a task to stop Cleiton Silva but it was too overwhelming for the youngster.

Tondonba Singh 5.5 :

Tondonba was the pick of defenders for Northeast. He was effective enough to not give Mahesh the space but ultimately the southpaw found a way.

Pragyan Gogoi 5 : 

Pragyan was all over the place for Northeast. He had his physical presence in the heart of the midfield and could not make most of the balls and possession he had.

Gani Nigam 5 : 

The physical presence and press by EB’s midfield was too big a task for the Indian youngster. 

Ibson Melson 5.5 :

Ibson ran and ran for Northeast United. He created one big chance in the first but Nestor Albaich failed to score.

Romain Philippoteaux 5

The NEUFC Captain had an underwhelminggame. He lost possession during counters and had very little impact on attack.

Jithin MS 6

Jithin  has had his moments but there was nothing that his team could offer in the attacking aspect.

Nestor Albaich 4

Nestor squandered one good chance his team created. Nothing much he could offer in a drubbing at VYBK. He even missed a penalty in the dyinng minutes which could not offer any consolation

Substitutes

Macarton Luis Nixon 5

Was bought in after the fourth goal and tried to make things stable but it was not to be.

Redeem Tlang 5

He replaced Ibson and tried his best to get a goal but it was certainly not their day.

Phalguni Singh 6

Phalguni Singh was bought to give a physical edge in the midfield but as the story goes nothing came of right for Juan Pedro Benauli and NorthEast United. However, in the dying minutes he did won the penalty  but did not get the consolation 

Yaser Hamed 5

The Palestinian  replaced Asheer to put a full stop and provide experience at the back  but was not able to stop the 5th goal.

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